“The neat thing about telepsychiatry is really the virtual teaming models that we can create,” Dr. Shore said. However, he acknowledged that this type of team participation requires an adjustment in reimbursement models for psychiatrists that traditionally have centered on psychopharmacology. The problem with the models limited to prescription writing is that they “do not tap into the psychiatrist’s leadership of the mental health team, knowledge of human behavior, and they are not, at least for me, as personally rewarding.”
He believes that the growing array of technologies contained in telepsychiatry will increase opportunities for psychiatrists in a host of such settings such as crisis management in emergency care settings or coordination of psychiatric care in residential treatment settings.
The expansion of telemedicine already is reflected in the growing number of companies marketing services directly to consumers. Dr. Shore listed several offering virtual health care that may contribute to both acceptance and demand for medical care delivered digitally. Although telepsychiatry already is associated with many effective applications, Dr. Shore reiterated that consumer demand will be a driver for further expansion of telemedicine in general.
He also emphasized that change involving digital advances in psychiatry is inevitable. According to Dr. Shore, artificial intelligence, virtual reality treatments, and social networking are among potential tools for altering care. Inside and outside of medicine, the pace of change driven by advances in digital exchange of information has been and is expected to continue to be brisk.